Career
In the early 1960s he was a leading militant in the Young Farmers" Movement, and in 1961 he helped found and led SICA (Societe d"Interet Collectif Agricole) Street-Political-de-Leon. He was a leader of a group of leading Bretons who pressed five key demands (from the regional structure plan) on the French administration in the late 1960s:
A modern road network between the region and Paris
The setting up of a telecommunications network
A strengthing of educational provision especially Brest University
Improving industrial development at Brest
The construction of a deep-water port at Roscoff
The French government agreed to these demands in October 1968. Gourvennec saw a place for Brittany as part of a "Celtic arc", stretching down the entire Atlantic coastline of Europe, and was keen to develop a service from Roscoff to Plymouth.
When Prince Charles visited Finistère in 1988, the local media apparently headlined his meeting with Gourvennec as "Prince of Wales at the home of the Prince of Brittany" (see article by Peter Forde).